


Blush

by itsyuu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsyuu/pseuds/itsyuu
Summary: Yahaba likes to see Kyoutani blush.
Relationships: Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru
Comments: 10
Kudos: 334





	Blush

Since the match against Karasuno, Yahaba notices a shift in Kyoutani's behavior. He's more calm, less on the edge, like he always seemed to be. He slowly fits in more and more with the team (not too much though, he's still Kyoutani, but he tries), except with one person: Yahaba himself. It's even the opposite, Kyoutani seems more wary of Yahaba than before. Yahaba could understand that, since he acted a bit aggressive with him on the court, but for a good reason: he actually helped him play better, and he knows Kyoutani thinks so too. So why would he be mad at him? No, it's not that, Yahaba thinks. He doesn't look upset (even if Kyoutani always look upset, but he doesn't seem particularly upset is what Yahaba means), but he's still avoiding Yahaba more than necessary. And that doesn't sit well with him, at all. 

Yahaba knows he will be the next leader when Oikawa leaves (which is way closer than Yahaba would like, but fortunately the third years decided to stay longer than planned and help the rest of the team getting better, probably because they want Aoba Johsai to crush Karasuno next time, even if it's without them). So, that means that if one member of the team doesn't want to talk to him at all, it would be a problem. And it's a problem he must fix now. Yahaba have to admit that he also wants to prove to Oikawa that he's worthy of being the next captain, but he would never tell anyone.

When morning practice officially starts, Yahaba has been there for about 30 minutes already, practicing his serves with Oikawa, and Kyoutani is late. It's a recurring event, so Yahaba is not even concerned about it, but he thinks he should be. As a future captain, he shouldn't let his teammates be late without even asking why they are, or scolding them at least a little. Even if he doesn't really want to, he knows that's something Oikawa would do.

Kyoutani finally arrives 17 minutes late (he counted), and Yahaba is waiting for him, his arms crossed over his chest. When Kyoutani sees him, he seems surprised at first, but then his scold deepens. He doesn't say anything and walks to Yahaba, looking right at him, with the usual fire his eyes hold. 

“You're late.” Yahaba says, as a matter of fact.

Kyoutani doesn't answer, but Yahaba can clearly hear the “And?” ringing through the gymnasium. 

“You're always late.” Yahaba continues.

“Not always.” Kyoutani answers sharply. Yahaba sighs, and shakes his head. He knows how Kyoutani is, he shouldn't try to pick a fight with him, no matter how much he wants to. He slowly walks to Kyoutani, and puts his hand on his shoulder. 

“Listen, I guess you have reasons for being late, but please try to put more effort into this whole thing, okay?” Yahaba says in a voice he hopes is nice enough, even if it sounds fake to his own ears. 

What surprises Yahaba, is Kyoutani's reaction. He doesn't push Yahaba's hand away, he doesn't lash out on him, or even move, no, he does only one thing: blush. It's feint, but Yahaba can clearly sees the way his cheeks get a bit redder, contrasting with the murderous look Kyoutani is giving him. At first, he thinks that maybe it's a result of anger, but Kyoutani doesn't flush red when he is angry, Yahaba knows that very well, from experience. But why is Kyoutani suddenly getting red then? 

Kyoutani must have sense the confusion on Yahaba's face because he immediately moves away from Yahaba's hand, and walks out to join Iwaizumi who was still stretching.

“Yeah, whatever.” He hears him say, but Yahaba can't forget the sudden and surprising blush on his face. How interesting.

Yahaba pays more attention to Kyoutani after that. Maybe he was just embarrassed because he was late (not likely but he doesn't want to rule out that possibility), or maybe he just reacts like this to anyone touching him, so Yahaba finds himself looking at Kyoutani more often, searching for the pink cheeks he had when he was with him. But, turns out, no one really touches Kyoutani. No one pats his shoulder after a good spike, no one high-fives him when he scores the team a point, and no one ever reaches a hand when he falls down after a (too) powerful spike (which often happens because of how reckless he can be). 

The realisation makes Yahaba frowns, but he's not sure why. 

Yahaba is a very touchy person, anyone can sees that. He likes to feel close to his teammates, to hug his friends, he can even be considered clingy, but it's not a problem for anyone anymore. They all got used to it. Maybe Kyoutani is the only one who didn't. He tries to remember how many times he touched Kyoutani, but quickly realizes it can be counted on only one hand. So maybe that's it, maybe Kyoutani is just not used to it and finds it embarrassing. 

Or maybe.. He likes being touched. He doubts it, but he knows Kyoutani can have feelings, contrary to popular belief. And Yahaba is the first person to know how it's like to have the need to be in constant contact with someone, to feel the need to be touched or to touch. He's not shy about it, so he has no problem dealing with it, but maybe Kyoutani is. 

Yahaba has a mission: to touch Kyoutani as much as possible. He wants Kyoutani to feel included, because if he is, he could play at the top of his game and maybe, just maybe, be less selfish on the court. It's a captain's duty to bring out the best of the team's ace, after all. And if he likes seeing Kyoutani blushes, then, that's just a bonus, really. 

He next sees him at lunch. The whole team usually eats lunch together once a week, Oikawa introduced this routine and now it's a part of their team's dynamic. No one can skip this, it's as important as practice, according to Oikawa. Yahaba wasn't fond of that habit, but he quickly found out the benefit of it. It's better to be friends with your teammates, and talk about other things than volleyball (even if most of their conversations off practice are centered around volleyball anyway). 

Yahaba is particularely thankful towards Oikawa for today, because he can sees Kyoutani before practice. Not to make this sound weird, it's purely to test his theory. 

When Yahaba arrives at the table, most of the team is already here, including Kyoutani. Yahaba sits next to him without saying anything (because of course the spot next to him is empty), trying to ignore the look Kyoutani is sending him (it may be murderous, but Yahaba knows it only hides surprise). Oikawa and Iwaizumi join them last, and sit opposite to them, next to Kunimi, who looks as bored as always, even if Kindaichi is talking enthusiastically to him. 

Yahaba eats in silence, not really wanting to take part in the conversation, his mind too busy thinking of a way to approach Kyoutani in a natural way. But he knows that the more he thinks about it, the less natural it would be. Ugh, why is it so difficult to be a good captain. Yahaba lets go of this thought when he hears someone calls out Kyoutani's name. 

“Kyoutani, do you want my beef? I'm not hungry anymore.” He hears Iwaizumi offers to him.

It's not surprising how nice Iwaizumi is to Kyoutani. They have this weird friendship, if you can call it that. Oikawa often jokes that Kyoutani has a crush on Iwaizumi. Of course, he doesn't say it when the both of them are here, because it would end badly for him. 

Yahaba doesn't think Kyoutani has a crush on Iwaizumi, at all. 

First of all, he doesn't even think that Kyoutani likes boys. Yahaba would know that, he has a perfect gaydar, and he is, to this day, the only gay member of the team, so.. If anyone happens to notice something between Iwaizumi and Kyoutani, it would be him. So back off, Oikawa. 

Plus, Yahaba also had people joking about him having a crush on literally every member when the others learnt he was gay. They thought it was funny, but it only made Yahaba very awkward and shy to interact with anyone, so one day he told them to just stop it. Which they did, and they all apologized to him, one by one, so Yahaba is not mad at them anymore.

Kyoutani briefly nods at Iwaizumi and hands him his plate, before muttering a small “thank you” which Yahaba is not sure that Iwaizumi heard. Iwaizumi fills Kyoutani's plate with his leftover meat, and hands it over to Kyoutani, but Yahaba reaches out for the plate and take it out of the blue, not really knowing why he is doing it, at the same time as Kyoutani does, making the tips of their fingers brush. Kyoutani quickly retract his hand, and looks at Yahaba, the surprised look now very clear on his face. Yahaba gulps, and puts Kyoutani's lunch in front of him slowly.

“Here.” He says, a bit quietly, barely looking at Kyoutani's face, but he notices it immediately. The one thing he was looking for despite himself. The feint blush on his cheeks. Yahaba wants to smile out of satisfaction, but he doesn't, and just eats the rest of his food, finding himself a bit too happy about it than he wants to. He doesn't notice the confused looks his teammates send their way.

Yahaba goes out of his way to see Kyoutani blushes again. He constantly touches him, his back, his arm, his shoulder, he always lays a hand on him when he speaks to him, and Kyoutani always blushes, everytime, without a fail. 

But Kyoutani seems to like it, Yahaba thinks. If he noticed Kyoutani was totally uncomfortable, he wouldn't have continued, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Actually, Yahaba is pretty sure he saw Kyoutani smile when he patted his back after a good receive. Still, the fact that he still blushes is pretty surprising for Yahaba. 

Sure, Kyoutani is not used to being touched, but maybe he should be, by now? It seems like even the other teammates have warmed up to Kyoutani and started to be more open, and thus more touchy with him, but Kyoutani still only blushes when Yahaba touches him. Yahaba is thinking that maybe.. but he quickly shakes it off. It's not a possibility, and he's aware of that. 

“Still looking at Kyoutani, huh?” Watari says, nudging Yahaba's shoulder.

“What?” Yahaba says a bit too loudly. “I'm not!” 

Watari gives him a certain look, which Yahaba is not sure what it's supposed to mean, or at least he doesn't want to know.

“It's just.. you're looking out for him a lot, these days..” Watari shrugs, but it sounds way too smug to Yahaba's liking. 

“Of course I am.” Yahaba admits, because it's true, but not for the reasons Watari believes so. “I'm the next captain, I have to look out for my teammates.”

Watari smiles. “Well, aren't you paying more attention to him than your other teammates?”

It's Yahaba's turn to shrug. 

“You're sure it's not a crush, huh?” 

Yahaba frowns at Watari. “No, it's not.” 

Watari is still smirking, and Yahaba is starting to get annoyed. “You know.. I wouldn't judge if you had a crush on Kyoutani..”

“I'm telling you that I'm not.” Yahaba grits out of his teeth.

Watari ignores him and continues. “I mean, weird taste, but you do you-” 

Yahaba sees red. 

“You know what, fuck you. I can look out for my teammates without having a crush on them. We already had this conversation.” Yahaba answers sharply, his heart strongly beating against his ribcage.

Watari must have sense that this is the cue, Yahaba is actually getting angry now, and he grimaces. “Sorry.” He mutters. “I just.. Nevermind. You're right.” 

Yahaba breathes deeply, and shakes his head. “It's alright. Sorry.”

Watari nods, and smiles awkwardly.

Everyone knows Yahaba has a bad temper, and he tries his best to control it, but sometimes he just loses it, over a simple, stupid thing. It's always embarrassing, Yahaba thinks. He hates it when he gets angry at one of his team member. 

He tries to ignore the anger still lingering, fading a bit with guilt but still pretty much there, and breathes deeply, slowly, doing his best to calm himself. He's always afraid he would lose his friends with his anger problems, he already did in the past, so he tries to surpress it the best way he can. But sometimes it's just too much. He continues his breathing exercice, trying his best to tone out the fire he feels in his chest, when he sees someone crouching beside him. He looks up, and Kyoutani's face is right there. 

He doesn't say anything, at all, which could be quite nervewrecking, but Yahaba actually finds it calming. His eyes are so dark, Yahaba realizes. Is he wearing eyeliner? He wonders, he should ask him, sometimes. They look at eachother for a few seconds, but it feels like forever. Yahaba doesn't dare to move, feeling like if he broke the eyecontact, he would loose something. But Kyoutani is the one to break it and gets up, before going to the coach, like nothing happened. Yahaba is pretty stunned, what was that? But he realizes, after a moment, that he no longer feels angry at all. He looks at Watari, who gives him a small smile. 

“Oh shut up.” He simply says, even though he is pretty confused himself, and continues stretching. 

The practice is going well, Yahaba thinks. Everyone seems on the top of their game. The third years are sitting out and just giving advice from time to time, and the team is actually doing well even without them, which is reassurring for Yahaba. Plus, Kyoutani is exceptionally good today. He always is, well, not if he's going through a bad day so let's say he is most of the time, but today, it's just very satisfying to watch him play. 

“Nice kill Kyoutani!” Yahaba screams after a good spike, and he's followed by his teammates, but Kyoutani turns around to look at him, and Yahaba swears he sees his lips pulling out a little smile. Barely there, but Yahaba sees it, clear as the day. He has no time to react because the team they're playing a practice match against are serving, and he must concentrate. But still, Kyoutani smiled at him. 

The match is over, and Aoba Johsai won in three sets. Yahaba is sweating like crazy, the other team tried very hard to make him move as much as possible, probably to exhaust him. Well, it worked. Yahaba sighs and pats his forehead with a towel, when Kyoutani sits next to him. 

“It was a good match.” Kyoutani says, his voice small, almost whispering. 

Yahaba smiles despite his exhaustion. Yeah, it was.

“You were really good today.” Yahaba says in a sigh, without even thinking about it, his brain to mouth filter completely gone. “It was exciting to see you play. It makes me want to be a better setter for our ace.” 

He looks at Kyoutani, not expecting anything, and sees him, wide-eyed, his face as red as Nekoma's jerseys. Yahaba realizes what he just said, and can't fight the blush also going on on his face with the realization that yeah, he just complimented Kyoutani, like, a lot. He's not even sure he even talked that long to Kyoutani before (except during that one match against Karasuno).

Kyoutani stands up before Yahaba has time to say anything and go straight to the changing room, with confused eyes following him. Yahaba just stares, his mouth agape. Kyoutani blushes when he touches him, he blushes when he compliments him, and is always looking at him after a good kill. Yahaba slowly smirks. Maybe Kyoutani has a crush on him after all. 

The realization that maybe Kyoutani is not that unaffected by Yahaba is pretty pleasing to him. Of course he feels good about it. It always feels good to know that someone finds you attractive. He always liked seeing Kyoutani blushes for some reason, but knowing the reason behind it makes it even better. He continues to touch him, to compliment him, to tear out these reactions he's looking for. Kyoutani likes me, there's no doubt, Yahaba thinks. And Yahaba can't stop thinking about it. He's not voicing his theory to any of his friends, because they would tell him that it's just his ego as usual, but Yahaba is sure about it this time. It feels a but surreal, but it makes sense, in a way. 

Yahaba has always been a flirty person, when you get to know him. He has a problem of letting people on, making them believe he actually likes them, when he don't. He often had girls confessing to him, and had to reject them, which was quite painful to do, because no, he wasn't totally an asshole. But that doesn't stop the flirting, not one bit. He flirts around with his teammates, a lot, to the point where he sometimes make Oikawa, out of all people, awkward. Which is fun, if you ask Yahaba. 

But he never flirted with Kyoutani. For an obvious reason: he didn't want to get his ass kicked. Even though he isn't afraid of Kyoutani like the majority of the team is, he knows when it's too far with him. But, now the situation is completely different. Kyoutani likes him, he wouldn't kill him if he flirted a little, right? And maybe, he could make Kyoutani even more flustered. 

They're in the locker room when Yahaba actually acts on it. Most of the team has already left the room, leaving only Kyoutani, Kunimi and Yahaba changing, with Kindaichi waiting for Kunimi by the door, playing on his phone. 

Kunimi and Kyoutani aren't really talkative, so the room is filled with silence, but it's not awkward. They're all pretty tired after all. 

Yahaba removes his shirt, crouches down and searches for his clean clothes in his bag when he feels an intense gaze on him. He slowly looks up, and Kyoutani is staring at him. Blushing. Again. But this time, Yahaba is half naked. 

Kyoutani quickly looks away, but it's too late, Yahaba saw him. He smirks.

“Like what you see, Kyoutani?” Yahaba says, nonchalantly, and Kunimi turns his head faster than he ever did. 

Kyoutani only blushed harder, which makes a the fire burns in the pit of Yahaba's stomach. He's enjoying it so much, he thinks, it can't be healthy.

“It's okay. I enjoy watching you too.” Yahaba continues and puts his shirt on, ignoring Kindaichi's gasp. 

Kyoutani doesn't say anything, too caught of guard to find a snarky answer. He turns around, but Yahaba can still sees the way his neck and ears are flushed in a deep red. 

Yahaba stops here, for Kyoutani's sake, the boy is red as a tomato at this point, and finishes dressing up. 

“Bye Kyoutani.” He waves as he leaves the room, Kyoutani still refusing to look at him. 

Yahaba smiles as he closes the door behind him. That was fun. 

It becomes a habit very quickly. Yahaba saying everything he can to make Kyoutani as flustered as possible. Kyoutani doesn't really answer, he mostly just flushes red and dips, avoiding Yahaba for the rest of the practice. Or if he's feeling brave, he answers with a quiet “Shut up”, which isn't convincing at all.

The others notice, too. Of course they do. Even if Yahaba has a flirty personnality, it's not common to see him flirt with Kyoutani out of all people, and they are mostly surprised with Kyoutani's reaction. They would think that the boy would have snapped Yahaba in half already. 

And it quickly becomes a joke among the team, as they all realize: Kyoutani likes Yahaba. Yahaba brings out a Kyoutani they're not used to see, and it's quite amusing sometimes. For instance, when Kyoutani forgets to spike a ball just because Yahaba complimented his arms a second before, or when Kyoutani refuses to look at Yahaba for an entire match because everytime he does, Yahaba winks at him. 

It's funny, it's harmless, they're just teammates being teammates. Yahaba is sure everyone is thinking so. Kyoutani doesn't seem to mind or even notice that much. It's all good.

But one person doesn't find it funny.

“Yahaba, stay a bit after practice.” Iwaizumi says, in a stern voice that is usual coming from him, but not really when talking to Yahaba. He gulps, and nods, knowing that he shouldn't mess with Iwaizumi when he gets all serious.

Yahaba does as he is told, and stays behind after practice, when everyone leaves. Watari gives him a little smile of encouragment, and it only makes Yahaba more nervous. When the door of the gym finally closes, it's only Iwaizumi and Yahaba in here. 

“So, what do you wanted to say to me?” Yahaba asks, trying to look as detached as possible. Iwaizumi shouldn't know that he is actually pretty scared of him.

“Do you like Kyoutani?” Iwaizumi asks, straight to the point.

Yahana opens his mouth, a bit taken aback by the question. This is not what he was expecting, at all.

A silence stretches out between the two of them, and Yahaba's brain seems to have stop fonctionning.

“So?” Iwaizumi presses on.

“No.” Yahaba answers, without even thinking about it. Because of course he doesn't like Kyoutani, what is that question? Why would he likes him? Because he likes to see him blush? And he likes even more if it's because of him? It's not liking someone, Yahaba tells himself. It's nothing like that.

Iwaizumi frowns, his arms firmly crossed on his chest.

“Are you kidding me?” Iwaizumi asks, his voice biting and cold. 

Yahaba shivers, confusing seizing him.

“No? Why would I like him?” 

It doesn't seem to be what Iwaizumi wanted to hear because now he's basically fuming.

“Then why are you flirting with him, you dumbass?” Iwaizumi screams, and Yahaba actually flinches.

“I flirt with everyone, that's how I am-” Yahaba starts, but Iwaizumi cuts him off.

“It's not the same! Kyoutani obviously likes you! Everyone noticed, and I'm sure you did too!”

Yahaba bites his lip in nervousness, because, Iwaizumi isn't wrong. He knows that Kyoutani likes him, and he still flirts with him. Does that make him a bad person? 

“You're a fucking idiot.” Iwaizumi continues. “Why would you do that? Why would you play with him like that?”

He doesn't really have anything to defend himself here. Because it feels good? It's the only thing that comes to his mind right now, but he doesn't know how Iwaizumi would take it, so he stays silent, and looks at his feet in shame. 

Maybe he has a point. Maybe Yahaba is a terrible human being for doing it. Kyoutani doesn't deserve any of it, Yahaba knows, but he can't help it. It feels like a need, to see him like that, to know that it's just him causing it, and no one else. Man, he surely has an ego problem.

“Look at me.” Iwaizumi says, not shouting anymore but his voice colder than ice. 

Yahaba obeys. 

“Stop it.” Iwaizumi says, loud and clear. “Stop flirting with him, hell, stop talking to him at all. You don't deserve him.” He spits, with a hatred in his eyes so strong that Yahaba can't bear it.

Iwaizumi takes his bag and storms out of the gym, leaving Yahaba behind. The silence that it leaves is more painful than everything else. 

Yahaba knows he fucked up, very badly. Now that Iwaizumi said it, it must admit it was quite cruel of him to flirt with Kyoutani just to boost his own ego. And the fact that everyone knows.. Just makes Yahaba feel even more guilty. 

Tomorrow comes way too fast, and Yahaba has to face Kyoutani earlier than he would have liked to. Iwaizumi is of course coming to practice, so Yahaba would have to avoid Kyoutani as much as possible. He's not really thrilled at the idea. Flirting with Kyoutani, and even talking to him as a friend, is something Yahaba had been looking forward to before any practice. He didn't really realized it before, but it had become a part of his life. And now that he knows he shouldn't do it anymore, he feels an unpleasant emptiness in his chest.

However, what he didn't except is Kyoutani being the one obviously avoiding him. When he arrives to practice, Iwaizumi isn't there yet, so Yahaba wants to take advantage of that fact, and sends a friendly smile towards Kyoutani, without any underlying meaning. He just wants to smile at him, not flirt, he promises (well, he tries to convince himself more than anything). But when he does, Kyoutani doesn't react the way he usually does now, with an embarrassed face or a shy little smile in return, no: he turns his face as fast as possible, but Yahaba can't miss the sour expression on it. What..? 

Yahaba frowns. Could it be that Kyoutani overheard their conversation? Not possible, they made sure that everyone left. It has to be something else. Maybe he is just in a bad mood? It's a very Kyoutani's thing to do to be extra grumpy just because he doesn't feel like it. It's probably that, yeah, nothing to worry about. But Yahaba still feels his stomach squeezing in a non-pleasant way. He doesn't really understand why he's upset about it, but he is. However, it's not time to dwell on this too much or else practice would be difficult. He has to snap out of it.

Just as he thinks that, Iwaizumi joins Kyoutani from behind him, and puts his arm around his shoulder, too casually, too close. Yahaba's frown deepens. The weird unpleasant feeling in his stomach gets stronger. Fuck. Is he actually jealous right now? It makes no sense. He huffs out in annoyance and tears his eyes from them. He doesn't care about them, not at all. But no matter how much he tells himself that, the weird feeling doesn't leave.

Practice goes by slowly, and as time passes, Yahaba is becoming more and more upset. Kyoutani just refuses to look at him, and it's pissing him off. He doesn't know why, but he can't stand it. The way Kyoutani adverts his eyes everytime they look at eachother for a split second, the way Kyoutani moves away when Yahaba gets a bit closer to him. Yahaba even tries to talk to him at one point, but the death glare Iwaizumi sends him is enough for him to change his mind. He will have to wait until the end of practice. 

When the time finally comes, Yahaba makes sure to take his time to change into his regular clothes, eyeing Kyoutani to see if he leaves first. He needs to talk to him right now, to clear things up, because Kyoutani is obviously avoiding him and Yahaba has a bad feeling about this. Iwaizumi finishes changing and tells Kyoutani that he'll be waiting for him outside because he has a call to make, and Yahaba thanks God for it.

When Kyoutani finishes to dress up and is about to leave, Yahaba calls out his name.

“Kyoutani.” He says, loud and clear. “Can you stay a little bit? I have something to talk to you about.” 

He notices the way Kyoutani tenses, and can already hear the harsh rejection coming from him, so he continues.

“It's about Volleyball.” He lies, knowing that it might be hard for Kyoutani to refuse then, since he knows Yahaba gives him shirt for disobeying his captain.

Kyoutani grunts something, but it sounds like an approval, so Yahaba smiles a little, feeling only a little bit guilty for lying to him. He has good reasons, okay? 

The rest of the team leaves them behind without paying much attention. When it's the two of them alone, Kyoutani still refuses to look at Yahaba, and prefers to play with the handle of his bag.

“Kyoutani.” Yahaba repeats, and he sees that it makes Kyoutani reacts, even just a little bit.

“Um..” Yahaba continues, feeling suddenly embarassed by what he is about to ask.

“Are you.. Um.. How do I say this..” He scratches his head, suddenly hesitating.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Yahaba finally lets out, in a short breath. 

This time, Kyoutani lifts his head up and finally looks at Yahaba for a second, but it's enough for Yahaba to feel overwhelmed. His eyes are.. a bit scary, if Yahaba has to admit. Normally, Kyoutani's scary eyes don't affect him, but right now.. He looks furious, and also hurt, which makes Yahaba feels like shit.

“I'm not avoiding you.” He spits out, and just the way he says it confirms that yes, he is in fact very angry at Yahaba. 

“I'm sorry for whatever I did, I didn't mean to..” Yahaba says, probably sounding desesperate but the feeling of guilt and hollowness makes his head spin and his stomach hurts. 

Kyoutani laughs. Not a very pretty laugh, if Yahaba has to admit. Not the one he enjoyed hearing yesterday. Cold, sharp. Yahaba gulps, and tries to calm down the beating of his heart. He feels afraid. He.. thinks he understand why Kyoutani is upset. But he hopes he's wrong. He doesn't want to hurt him, but it's probably too late.

“Kyoutani.” Yahaba repeats, starting to understand.

“Stop saying my name.” Kyoutani replies, his voice now wavering and Yahaba has never felt so bad in his entire life.

“Did he tell you? Iwaizumi?” Yahaba asks, because that's the only possible reason he's found. 

Kyoutani hesitates a second, Yahaba can sees that, before nodding, and Yahaba's heart drops. Why does he feel so bad? Sure, he feels guilty for playing with Kyoutani's feelings, but there seems to be more. Something he can't put a name on it. 

“Ah..” is Yahaba's only answer, because he doesn't know what to do. He knows an apology is not enough, and doesn't matter in this situation. He acted like a little shit, he needs to face the consequences.

“You can hit me if you want.” Yahaba says, without even thinking about it beforehand, trying anything to get a reaction out of Kyoutani, and maybe, ease the pain he feels in his chest. 

“Huh?” Kyoutani is surprised, obviously. 

“I mean it. I deserve it.” Yahaba continues, and to that Kyoutani frowns. 

“You do.” He only replies, and Yahaba ignores how hurt he feels, because it's not about him right now. He doesn't deserve any pity, he's aware of that.

Yahaba stands up and walks in front of Kyoutani. 

“Hit me.” Yahaba repeats.

“For what? For you to feel better about yourself?” Kyoutani answers, and Yahaba is a little bit ashamed because, that's a part of it.

“A little.” Yahaba admits, because he shouldn't lie to Kyoutani anymore. “But.. I'm sure you want to.”

He swears he could see Kyoutani's face twitch in interest at that. Kyoutani stands too, slowly, and is now facing Yahaba. They're staring at eachother, without any of them wavering, or about to back down anytime soon.

“You asked for it.” Kyoutani announces before he grips Yahaba by his colar and slams him against the lockers. Yahaba has a sensation of deja-vu.

He winces a little when his back hits the lockers, but he knows Kyoutani is not using his full strenght now, and it makes him feel a little better about himself. He still maintains eyecontact with him, showing him cleary that he's not backing down, and that Kyoutani can do whatever he wants to do with him in that moment. Kyoutani stops, too. There's a fire burning in his eyes, but it's tamed down, and Yahaba just realizes how pretty his eyes are upclose. 

“You have pretty eyes.” Yahaba says, before he can stops himself. 

Kyoutani grits his teeth, and slams Yahaba even harder. 

“Shut up!” He says, but Yahaba can see how flustering he's getting.

That's right. Kyoutani likes him, after all. It's not fair, to like someone as terrible as me, Yahaba thinks, poor Kyoutani. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone. But it makes his heart beats faster just thinking about it.

“I'm sorry.” Yahaba says, but he's not feeling sorry for this one. Kyoutani needs to know how good he looks, it feels like Yahaba's job to tell him.

“You're not.” Kyoutani answers, and Yahaba could smirk right now, if it was in different circonstances.

“Sorry for not being sorry.” Yahaba says this time, and Kyoutani's lips twitch a little. 

“Asshole.” Kyoutani spits out once more, but this time there's no bite in his words.

Yahaba can't help but smiles a little, and looks at Kyoutani like he's never before. They've never been that close, after all. 

His skin is very pretty, too. Very smooth, Kyoutani seems to take care of it pretty well. It's surprising, who would have thought? But Kyoutani is more thoughtful then he lets out, Yahaba knows that. He has known for a while, and he kind of likes that about him. How carefree he looks but how he still prepares his lunch in little bento boxes classified by size, or how he always prepares his body well before any practice, spending more time than any other member, as he carefully stretches. His body is relly flexible, too, in a way that makes Yahaba winces sometimes because, he couldn't do that, it looks painful, but Kyoutani does it easily, and it's quite impressive.

Yahaba realizes just now how much time he's spent looking at Kyoutani, studying him almost, and how he enjoyed it. He doesn't want it to end, he doesn't want to stop what they were doing, whatever you can call it. He wants to go further. Maybe.. just maybe.. He likes him, too. 

The sudden admission makes Yahaba's heart beats faster, and suddenly he can't think things through. His mind is overwhelmed with only the thought of Kyoutani. Kyoutani, who is right in front of him, who is staring at him with an intense gaze that makes Yahaba feels like his knees could give up at any moment. He doesn't think. He can't, when Kyoutani is this close.

So Yahaba closes the gap, and presses his lips to Kyoutani's, slowly, carefully, despite the eagerness he feels all around his body. 

Kyoutani doesn't react, at first. And Yahaba is still prossessing the fact that holy shit, he's kissing Kyoutani, what the fuck is he doing.

It goes on a few seconds without them doing anything about it, before Kyoutani starts to tentatively move on his own. Yahaba feels his heart stops, before beating even louder. He's sure Kyoutani could hear it at this point. 

Yahaba responds to the kiss, and they're moving against eachother, slowly, not rushing things. It feels a bit awkward, but Yahaba's whole body is on fire just by the thought that he's in fact kissing Kyoutani. 

A knock on the door startles them, and Kyoutani detaches himself from Yahaba completetly, his eyes wide. 

“Kyoutani? Are you coming?” Iwaizumi's voice can be heard, and Yahaba has never more hated this man in his entire life. 

Kyoutani, on the other head, looks panicked. 

“Coming!” He says, in a breathy voice that doesn't sound like him. If Iwaizumi didn't know what was happening, now he surely does.

Kyoutani takes his baf and starts to leave, without looking in Yahaba's direction, and panic suddenly seizes him. No, he can't leave like that, they need to talk. He needs to tell him he likes him, too. That he wasn't playing this time.

“Kyoutani-” He starts, but Kyoutani cuts him short.

“Later.” He says, opening the door in a hurry and leaving Yahaba behind. 

Yahaba takes his head in his hand, and lets out a deep sigh. What has he done, now?

Yahaba thinks about the kiss all night. He's sure about it after that, he really likes Kyoutani. It took time to realize it, but now that he's voicing it, he's sure it's true, and he plans to do something about it. 

Yahaba is not the type of person to beat around the bush, if he wants something, he'll do everything he can to take it. And he wants to go out with Kyoutani. He wants to kiss him again, and make him forgive him. He not only played with Kyoutani's feelings, but also made him look like a fool in front of the whole team. He's thinking that maybe, to make things fair, he could inverse the situation, and make a fool of himself instead.

It's Iwaizumi he talks to first in the morning. He texted him, saying that they should talk before school, and now he's right in front of him, waiting for his opinion on his idea. 

“You want me, out of all people, to humiliate you in front of the team?” Iwaizumi asks, his eyesbrows raised.

“Yes.” He says, determined.

“Why?” 

“You don't want to do it?” Yahaba asks, a smirk on his face because Iwaizumi surely wants to do it, he knows him by now.

“Of course I want to. Okay, let me talk to Oikawa. You can't say you didn't ask for.” Iwaizumi smiles in a way that sends chills to Yahaba's spine. Maybe it wasn't his brightest idea, but he's not backing down now. 

He hasn't expected for it to start immediately during first practice. 

“Yahaba, today, you're not playing. We want to test the new first year as a setter. You can join the ball boys.” The coach says, and Yahaba's jaw drops open. They even invovled the coach in this? He can hears the snickers coming from Oikawa. Okay, it's not that bad, he can do it, plus, it's for Kyoutani. 

Speaking of which, he's not here, and Yahaba is starting to fear that he might not be here all day and that he would get shamed for nothing, but Kyoutani finally arrives after a few minutes, and Yahaba sighs in relief.

“Hey ball boy, stop sighing like that, it's making me loose focus.” Kindaichi says, loud enough, and Yahaba gaps, offended. So the entire team is on it now? Even the ones he considers as his younger brothers? 

He sees the confused look Kyoutani sends him, and he smiles awkwardly. Kyoutani turns his head as fast as possible, and Yahaba pouts. Okay, he might need more than this. 

The rest of the practice goes by very slowly, and Yahaba is doing his best to run after every ball, but he must admit, it's quite tiring to be a ball boy. The others continue to play with him as much as they want, it's a rare occasion to boss their future captain around without him allowed to say anything. He asked for it, after all. And Yahaba notices Kyoutani smiling from time to time at a joke about him, and he should feel indigned, but it's making his cheeks warm instead. Oh no, he's the one blushing for Kyoutani now.

When the practice (finally) ends, Yahaba opens his bag to change, when he notices that his bag is empty. His clothes are nowhere to be seen. He's about to ask around if any of them has taken his clothes by mistake, when he notices the smirk Iwaizumi sends his way, and oh, now he understands. Fucking Iwaizumi. He sure is enjoying it. 

“What's wrong?” Watari asks, when Yahaba sits on the bench and just stares in front of him, defeated.

“My clothes are gone.” Yahaba says, and he just sees Watari trying not to laugh. This bastard.

Oikawa suddenly speaks up.

“Oh my! I just happen to have brought some changes today. Here.” He throws a shopping bag at him, indicating that he clearly bought it today just for him, and Yahaba is a bit scared to look inside But Watari beats him to it and opens the bag, revealing a maid outfit. Oh no.

“What?” Yahaba asks, looking at Oikawa who just shrugs. “I like to dress up sometimes.” He says, in a cheeky voice.

He doesn't know if he has the best teammates or the worst. 

“I could just stay in my sport wear, you know that?” Yahaba asks, because he suddenly doesn't want to do it anymore.

“Yeah, but it beats the purpose of it, no?” Oikawa winks, and Yahaba is now sure that Oikawa knows why Yahaba is doing it.

He feels Kyoutani's eyes on him, and can't help but blush a little. Yeah, he shouldn't forget the goal to this whole thing. He's going to prove something to Kyoutani. 

He quickly changes in his outfit, which is a plain maid outfit, not a sexy one, fortunately, but he still feels out of place in it.

“Wow! It suits you Yahaba. Don't you agree Kyoutani?” Oikawa asks in a way that doesn't seem natural at all, and Yahaba wants to kick him in the face.

He naturally looks at Kyoutani despite himself, and Kyoutani is staring at him, his mouth a bit agape, and his cheeks seriously red. Yahaba bites his lip. Maybe Oikawa's idea isn't that bad. 

The day goes by and Yahaba is begging to see the end of it. They continue to tease him every chance they get, for anything really. Even Kunimi gets into it at one point and purposely hits Yahaba in the head with a ball. This team is going to be the end of me, Yahaba thinks, but when he hears Kyoutani laughs, he's not regreting anything at all.

It finally ends with the whole team putting Yahaba under the shower after giving him back his clothes. So now he's soaking wet, and miserable. 

Kyoutani comes up to him and hands him his towel. “Here.” He says, his voice soft.

Yahaba takes it. “Thank you.” 

Kyoutani sits next to him on the bench in the changing room, everyone having already left by now. 

They sit in silence while Yahaba tries to dry himself as much as possible.

“Why did you do that?” Kyoutani breaks the silence, and Yahaba looks at him.

“Do what?” 

“Told them to mess with you today.” Kyoutani continues, looking straight ahead. “I'm not stupid, I know you asked them. Why?”

Yahaba smiles a little. Of course Kyoutani is smart, he picked that up easily. He probably knows why he did it, too.

“You already know.” Yahaba says, as a matter of fact.

“Yeah.” Kyoutani admits, and finally dares to look at Yahaba in the eyes. “But I want you to say it.”

Yahaba is surprised with how bold is being, but, he must admit, he kind of likes it.

“I'm sorry I humiliated you in front of everyone with how I was acting. It wasn't my intention.. And.. I didn't know.. At that time.. That.. Well..” Yahaba searches his words, playing with his hands and suddenly too shy to look at Kyoutani.

“That what?” 

“That I like you.” Yahaba finishes. 

A silence falls down in the room, and Yahaba tentatively looks up at Kyoutani when the latter doesn't reply. He looks.. surprised. 

“Are you sure?” Kyoutani asks, after a few seconds of hesitation.

“Yeah.” Yahaba replies, without hesitation.

“Okay.” Kyoutani says, and that's it.

Yahaba looks at him, waiting for something else, a reaction, maybe? But Kyoutani doesn't say anything else and just stares at his feet.

“So?” Yahaba asks.

Kyoutani lifts his head. “Mh?” 

“So? Like.. I confessed so..” Yahaba continues, a bit confused. He's not really sure what he's asking for, but not a simple “Okay”.

“Ah. Yes.” Kyoutani replies. 

Another silence. 

“Then, do you want to kiss?” Kyoutani asks, innocently.

Yahaba chokes on his own spit at that. He didn't expect for Kyoutani to be that straight forward.

“Do you?” Yahaba asks, to make sure.

“Yeah.” Kyoutani answers, like it's an easy question, and all doubts fanish from Yahaba's mind.

“Okay.” He answers, and start to awkwardly approaches Kyoutani when the latter stops him.

“Wait. Are we like boyfriends now?” 

Yahaba thinks about it for a few seconds.

“Yes. I guess?” Yahaba says, not sure if that what Kyoutani wants.

It must be because Kyoutani smiles widely. “Cool.” And this time it's Kyoutani who presses their lips together first.

They come to practice tomorrow, their hands linked together, a dumb smile on Yahaba's face, and Kyoutani looks like he's frowning less than usual. The whole team stops dead in track when they get here, but both of them act like nothing is out of ordinary. 

“What the hell?” Kunimi breaks the silence, out of all people, and it seems to shatter whatever spell was on them because everyone suddenly bombard them with questions and congratulations. 

“I'm always right.” Yahaba hears Watari says.

“It's kinda weird but I'm happy for you! Yahaba you finally have a boyfriend!” Kindaichi says excited, and Yahaba sends him a death glare which stops him dead in tracks.

“Poor Kyoutani.” Oikawa says loudly and Yahaba is about to beat the shit out of him but Kyoutani grips on him tighter, a nervous look on his face.

“Hey, stop that, you're making my boyfriend uncomfortable.” Yahaba says, followed by an even louder ruckus to the fact that he just called Kyoutani his boyfriend.

They finally manage to get out of their grip, and Kyoutani looks at Yahaba with a certain glee in his eyes.

“Your boyfriend, huh?” He says, a cocky smile on his face.

Yahaba blushes.


End file.
